Mistaken Identity
by Leonaria Dragonbane
Summary: A Hollywood fixer, Ray Donovan gets a new client, one about to become world famous, only she has a deadline, a very dead deadline. Can he find the man she's looking for before her time runs out. (For those who know me do you have to ask)
1. Chapter 1

Mistaken Identity

A Hollywood fixer, Ray Donovan gets a new client, one about to become world famous, only she has a deadline, a very dead deadline. Can he find the man she's looking for before her time runs out. (For those who know me do you have to ask)

Chapter 1 – Discovery Channel

She sat quietly in the waiting room, the modest skirt and high collar blouse so out of place in Southern California, although, to her just as comfortable as the short skirts and open necked blouses on the other women. It wasn't that hot in California, she had her customary scarf around her shoulders as there was a slight chill from the air conditioning, certainly nothing like the heat in the eastern delta of the Nile this time of year. Her long auburn hair ended at her waist, under the wrap of the scarf. Her world debut was in less than twelve hours, and she sat in a waiting room, cooling her heels.

"Dr. Wilson, Mr. Goldman will see you now." She glanced at the young woman behind the reception desk and stood. She wasn't tall, the other woman seemed to tower over her, looking down her nose at Kate's modest dress and few extra pounds. Were all these women starving to death. Ailea should be here, she'd fix all of them quickly. Her mentor's youngest wife was the best cook Kate had ever met.

"How do you do." The elderly man held out his hand, she felt his slight shudder as she firmly shook it.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." She said, her voice soft, trained to be pleasing to a male ear. Sometimes it was the little things that gave you the edge in her career, certainly she had all the training, but working where she did, and among the people she did, she worked hard not to offend anyone. Especially now, with a world announcement of her discoveries only hours away.

"You said you are looking for a missing person?" He said as he closed the white double doors to his office. He gestured for her to take a seat on one of the light colored leather sofas.

"Yes." She handed him the small folder of information she'd been able to discover on her own. "It is a matter of life and death."

"It usually is."

She sat quietly, ankles crossed neatly, her ankle length skirt rising only a little in her seated position. She watched his lips move as he quietly read the information.

"I see." He looked at her, she could see how little he actually did.

"Mr. Goldman..." She started

"Ezra, please." He corrected her. She gave him a small smile.

"Ezra, I know it isn't much to go on, my brother and I have been searching since my mother passed, and that is all we could find."

"Twenty years is a long time." He gave her a fatherly nod.

"I know. But as I said, it is life or death."

"Whose?" he asked

"Mine." She handed him the second, much thicker folder. "I may not know much about him, but I know everything there is to know about myself."

"My my my..." He whispered, as he read the second folder. She could tell he was stalling, waiting for someone else to join them. She was a very patient woman, she had to be. Things moved at their own pace in Egypt, it was no wonder to her that the country had survived relatively intact for nearly ten thousand years, they just did things their own way. Los Angeles was a confusing place to her, after five years abroad.

"This could get expensive. A man like this, if he doesn't want to be found, won't." Ezra said, laying the folder on the table next to the first.

"I understand that, but I don't think he would have taken the precautions he did, if he didn't intend for me to find him." She said.

Ezra nodded slowly.

The double doors opened, and she felt like a mule kicked her in the gut. The man that walked in was just larger than life. His rugged face, unshaven and scared, demanded attention, attention that was immediately drawn to his mouth and his uncanny green eyes. His height was daunting to her, most of the men she worked with were bent from years at the screens, or hunched from working long hours in the tombs. He stood straight as a board, shoulders back, his dark jacket swinging from his shoulders to his hips, his dark shirt almost the same color as the acid washed jeans. He closed the doors behind him.

"Ah, Raymond." Ezra said as he stood. "This is Dr. Katherine Wilson. Dr. Wilson, this is Raymond Donovan."

His green eyes raked over her, and she kept her blush contained, barely at the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Just that twitch was enough to tell her that her clothing amused him in some way.

"She needs our help, Ray." Ezra stated as Ray took a seat in a chair across from Kate.

She met his eyes, inwardly proud of herself for being able to. Years working with Zahi and his penetrating stares gave her the fortitude. He gestured with a hand for her to explain.

"My father passed away ten years ago." She started. "He was killed in some of the early action in Afghanistan. I was sixteen. My mother was diagnosed the same year with ovarian cancer, and passed away last year. I earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where I majored in Archeology, until I got an offer from the University of Cairo, where I changed my major to Egyptology and graduated three years ago with a triple doctorate in Archeology, Egyptology and Anthropology."

I've been working a dig just outside the eastern Nile delta for five years, since I was a graduate student, and have had..." she paused, a slight smile on her face at her mentor's descriptive term... "a Carter moment. A discovery that will be world shaking when it is announced tonight."

He just nodded at her.

"I'm by no means incompetent, or even lazy, I know this will be a great deal of work, and am more than willing to pay whatever it takes."

He nodded again. His silence was unnearving.

"When my mother passed away, my brother and I spent months trying to straighten out the family finances, and what we found did nothing but confuse us, until we found this letter hidden in my dad's duffle bag." She handed him the first folder of information. "This is everything my brother and I have been able to find about the man described in the letter."

He didn't even open the file, just gestured for her to continue.

"I'm mostly furious, but when you look at the second folder of information, you'll understand why this is so important to me." She handed him the second folder. "I have to find this man or I'll die."

"Of what." His voice was a growl, elongating the vowels and sending vibrations down her spine.

"A massive heart attack."

He just nodded, opened the folders and began to read. She folded her hands in her lap and sat, patiently, again. Yes, working with Zahi all these years had been good training for this moment.

"Is this bullshit?" He asked, glaring at her over her medical records.

"No."

"This is the kind of shit you see in comic books and bad movies."

"It is all true, verified by independent doctors."

"Shit." He flipped the file over and started reading again from the beginning.

"So let me get this straight. This guy, you don't even know his name, bought you from your parents when you were born, paid for everything in your life, and now you want me to find his ass so you can fuck him?"

"Yes." Kate hoped her poker face wouldn't fail her now.

"If not, you'll die?" He cocked his head to the left, hiding a long straight scar on his cheek in shadow. His dark hair, cut short, seemed to curl on its own, and she had the strange impulse to run her fingers through it. She curbed it, as she had curbed any such impulses her whole life. Sex and archeology, Indiana Jones be damned, just didn't mix, not in Egypt, not where being a woman was already a major mark against her with the establishment.

"And you think he's in LA?"

"I can't explain it, but yes."

"Raymond, do you think you can do this?" Ezra said.

"That'll depend..."

"On what?" She asked.

"If he's in LA." He tossed the folders on the table casually, and she barely contained the urge to leap forward to keep the papers from scattering. He was looking for an opening, some break in the studied and practiced exterior she'd kept up for years. He might look like a god among men, but he certainly was just as human as the next, and if Zahi Hawass couldn't break her, Raymond Donovan wouldn't.

He stood, quickly, nodded at Ezra and only paused long enough to open one of the double doors, and walked out. She looked at Ezra who was handing her a contract.

"My usual retainer. Mr. Donovan's fees are included." She looked at the papers and didn't even cringe at the amount. The man she was looking for had taken care of any financial needs she would ever have, including the exorbitant fee of the attorney. She slipped her wallet out of a pocket in her skirt and wrote a check.

"Five hundred thousand dollars should cover everything?" she asked as she wrote out the check. Ezra nodded.

She stood and automatically reached to wrap her scarf over her head. She stopped herself. She wasn't at home, and might never see the majesty of her home again. She let the silk drop to rest on her shoulder again, as she walked out the open door.

XXXXXXXXXXX

He just sat in the car. Where the hell had she come from? After last year, all the problems the last thing he and Abby needed was him getting a hardon for some dirt digger from the middle east. His phone rang, and he glanced down at it. It was Brig.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, kiddo."

"I need to ask a favor."

"What? Anything."

"I have a report I have to do this week for school. It's about this new exhibit at the museum."

"So."

"So, the opening is tonight, and I was wondering if you could get tickets?"

"Brig..."

"Dad, you don't have to go. I could go with some friends."

"Over my dead body." he growled into the phone, her chuckle on the other end making him relax. That was what was great about kids. They cleared your head from other things.

"Dad."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Dad."

"I said I'll see."

"Okay." He'd find tickets if he had to cut the fingers off every scalper in LA. Nothing was too good for his little girl.

He hung up the phone and called Lee.

"Do you have tickets for this thing at the museum tonight?"

"No."

"Get me four."

"Ray..."

"Four."

He hung up. He'd make it a date night. Abby could wear those damned shoes...maybe he'd find a janitor's closet and fuck her in them again. He certainly was getting his money's worth from those damned things.

"Hey Abs." He said as she picked up the phone. "We're goin' out tonight."

"Ray...what now."

"Some thing at the museum. Brig has to go for school, thought we'd all go. Dress up."

"Ray."

"And wear those shoes." He hung up the phone and smiled. Yep, he was getting his money's worth out of those damned shoes.

He pulled into traffic, as his phone rang. One of these days he was just going to chuck the damned thing out the window.

"Yeah, Terry."

"You heard from Bunch?"

"No."

"He had a job interview today."

"A job, what the hell does he need a job for." Ray asked

"He said he wanted a job."

"That's why we have the gym."

"Ray, he hasn't come back."

"Where'd he go?"

"The bike shop."

"Shit."

"Ray."

"I'll check." he hung up. One of these days, one of these days he was just going to turn the damned thing off and let everyone fend for themselves.

He drove across town, his phone blessedly silent for the forty five minute drive in traffic. He pulled up outside the bike shop, but he could see everything was okay. Bunchy was talking to the counter guy as he worked on a bike. He smiled as he opened the door. Bunchy had been clean for almost three weeks, and looked it. He hadn't seen his little brother looking this sober in years.

"I told ya I could fix anything..." Bunchy was saying to the guy.

"I can have you come in part time, fix the stuff in the back." The guy at the counter said. Bunch was grinning as he turned and saw Ray.

"Ray, did ya hear that. I got a job."

"Yeah, Bunch. Good job." He grinned.

"You can start tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kate stood nervously backstage. Everything was ready for the big reveal but her. She could hear the crowd on the other side of the curtain in the auditorium the museum used for screening historical movies. The Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History was chosen for this screening because Zahi liked it. She really wished they'd done this in Cairo or even DC. She hated Los Angeles. Her phone vibrated softly in her purse and she pulled it out.

"Everything will be fine." The soothing tone of her mentor's voice said in her ear. "There is nothing that can go wrong."

"Nothing. It is a glass sarcophagus filled with Argon over two thousand years ago, and we don't know how the hell they did it. It could tip over, it could shatter, exploding over an audience full of the rich and famous and we could be sued." She quipped.

He laughed in her ear. "No it won't."

"Pain in my ass." She muttered, knowing he was glaring at her from the opposite wing. He hated it when she cursed at him, but she was the only woman he'd allow to do it. Something about saving his life several years ago had endeared her to him and he saw her as an errant, if brilliant, daughter.

"One of these days, you will get married, and know what that phrase means." he quipped back. She chuckled and hung up her phone. 

The director of the museum was standing in front of the curtains, and as she always did when she had to speak to a large group of people she started to panic. She took a few deep breaths, then froze. He was here, Donovan, she could smell him. She hadn't even realized she'd memorized his scent, but there it was. She let out a little growl, childishly angry because he was here instead of looking for her mysterious 'owner.'

Even Zahi didn't know about that. Now she felt violated, as if Donovan would expose her. She paused, of course, an event that featured her, and her work might be the very place to find a man who had spent upwards of one hundred million dollars on a trust fund, and five mortgages on the family farm in Oklahoma for the right to 'own' her.

She heard her name, and shaking her head to clear it, stepped in front of the curtain, and to the podium.

"Good evening." She said, the microphone warping her voice in her ears as it echoed back. "My name is Dr. Katherine Wilson, and tonight, thanks to the magic of our modern technology, you will get the chance to experience the wonder of making a truly staggering discovery. One step at a time..."

The screen came down behind her, and the video started.

"Just set it up over there, I'm still clearing these glyphs at the bottom." She heard herself saying as the camera snapped on. She cringed as she heard the brush drop, just like she did when it actually happened, and every time she'd watched this video since. She closed her eyes, seeing in her mind, from her point of view what the screen showed the audience.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kate glared at the young camera operator. Zahi wanted cameras at the digs at all times now, and she hated being filmed. Her brush clattered off her camp stool and she bent to pick it up, her hand resting on a slight protrusion of rock in the blank center of the squared archway. She felt something give way, and then the whole piece of stone swung on a center pivot, a plume of deadly gasses filling her face. She glanced back to make sure the diggers were not exposed to the toxic fumes that could be released from an ancient tomb.

Her mutation protected her from these things, but she still worried about everyone else.

She looked inside the opening, shocked at the ease of the opening of the stone door. The light from the hot afternoon sun glinted off jewels and polished metal artifacts, and her mouth went dry. There was a fine film of dust, undisturbed, over everything in the chamber. It was the undisturbed that sent the wave of adrenaline through her body. No one, nothing had been in this chamber in over two thousand years to disturb the thick layer of dust.

She could see another opening behind the offertory items in the first chamber. She grabbed the camera with it's bright light and, followed by the young camera man commanding her not to damage his equipment, she moved slowly through the chamber, letting the camera pick up the unmistakable proof that she was the first person into this room in centuries.

The second chamber, later identified as the burial anti-chamber held personal items, cosmetic jars, brushes of fine hair, with gold handles inlaid with lapis lazuli and rare amber. A gaming table with several board games of the Roman period, silver glinting, untarnished, in the camera's lights, set as if ready to play. A throne, bracketed by two huge stone statues, painted in bright colors, each one a representation of Isis, Queen of Heaven, and behind them, another opening.

She walked toward the opening, camera lights illuminating as she stepped gingerly through the room. Just beyond the halo of the light, she made out a squared shape, roughly the size of a normal sarcophagus...

XXXXXXXXXXX

The lights came up, the film stopping at that crucial point.

"And this is what I found." She said, as the curtain opened, revealing the marvel to the world.

Cleopatra VII Philopator , in all her glory, forever encased in a blown glass and lead coffin, somehow filled with inert Argon gas, preserving her nearly perfectly, lay behind the curtain, slightly inclined so the audience could see her striking face, the patrician nose, strong chin, and high fine cheekbones. A face that toppled an empire twice, controlled men of power, and ruled with an iron will in her own kingdom. The last Pharaoh of Egypt.

"Cleopatra." Kate said, as the gasps filled the room. Keeping the lid on the discovery had been difficult for the last two years, but what was more important to Kate were the other artifacts in the tomb, the minute and tiny details that had to be photographed, cataloged, drafted and rendered by artists and artisans.

Zahi stepped to her side and she moved to the chairs set up next to the podium. He was now going to wax poetic, and she could just relax, let him take the rest of the credit and the glory for Egypt, and himself, she didn't care. It had been a fight to get him to give her this much credit, but the video was bound to leak eventually, and they had decided to stay ahead of it.

She scanned the audience, looking for Donovan. Why was he here? Her mind was so preoccupied, she nearly missed her cue.

"Thank you, Dr. Hawass." She said as she stepped back to the podium. She'd told this part so many times she could do it in her sleep. "I was working on a wall, underwater, in the bay of Alexandria, a building we'd found that we had reason to believe was the tomb referenced in the legend of the death of Cleopatra. If it was intended as a tomb, it wasn't intended as her final resting place, but more of a tomb of state, where her body could be displayed right after death, then moved to a safer location. Many tombs in Egypt are built facing East and with a false exit to the West, to allow for the movement of the soul from birth to death. The tomb in Alexandria was facing west, with the false exit and wall to the East. There was a section on the wall that seemed to give directions to the final tomb site, and I worked for several months photographing and translating the glyphs until I was certain I knew where the tomb site was."

"Unfortunately, a small earthquake hit the region, and the wall slipped into an underwater crevice and was unrecoverable. The only evidence I had was my photographs, but Dr. Hawass, agreed to allow a small dig to see if the directions led to anything, and as the video showed, they did. Almost within one hundred feet of the entrance."

The audience clapped, many, and then all standing, cheering, and Kate blushed.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ray watched her on the stage, the monument of the announcement barely registering as he struggled to keep his reaction hidden from his wife. In Ezra's office it had been one thing, she'd been covered up, but up there, in an evening gown that definitely didn't leave her figure to the imagination, or the fact that she had a rack from hell, and right now was his own personal hell as every movement caused his damned silk boxers to rub against his fucking cock, it was pissing him the hell off.

No woman had the right to be sin incarnate, not like that. This woman was going to be the death of him. At least Abs would help take care of it, even if he had to close his eyes and imagine Dr. Wilson's dark brown eyes looking up at him as her full lips stretched over his cock.

Shit. He glanced over at Abby, looking in awe at the damned dead bitch on the stage. Who gave a shit about some broad who'd been dead that long. He put his hand over hers on the arm of the seat, and guided it to his lap. She looked at him, in shock, but put her hand under her coat in his lap and started stroking him through his pants. She took his hint and excused herself to go to the bathroom, and he followed a few minutes later. He saw her slip down a roped off hallway, and followed.

"In here, Ray." She whispered, holding open a closet door.

"Abs." He groaned, as he closed the door behind them. He lifted her up, pushing her back against the door, with one arm, while the other hand skillfully opened his slacks and pushed her dress up. She was wearing a thong with a garter belt under the dress, so he just moved the string aside and slammed into her. She cried out, and he put his hand over her mouth to quiet her. It didn't take long, with her legs wrapped tight around his hips.

"Damn, Ray, this has ta stop." She whispered as she pulled herself together.

"Why?" He grinned.

"Because, I'm gonna get old and you're still gonna be fuckin' me in janitor's closes like in high school." She laughed.

They slipped into the crowd in the main lobby, the after presentation question and answer in full swing. 

XXXXXXXXXXX

Author's note:

I know I have quite a few to work on, but my brain has been on overdrive, and my medical situation has had me so worn out that I just haven't felt like writing. Thank goodness for Showtime and Ray Donovan, I have new inspiration, and hopefully, new energy. I have been working on some of the others...just slowly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Let the Games Begin

Kate could feel the sand under her eyelids as they fluttered open. She groaned. She wasn't in her tent on the site, but in a hotel room, and the sand wasn't from the constant dust, but lack of sleep and a slight hangover. She rarely drank, but everyone she talked to last night kept giving her glasses of champagne, and she'd always been taught that it was rude to refuse.

She grabbed the remote for the blinds and closed them. The light sensitivity would fade in a few minutes, but for now she wanted it dark. The events of the night flashed across her closed eyelids.

She'd talked to so many people, answered so many questions, not only about the find, but about her own history, how she'd become an archeologist, about why she'd chosen to work in a country and a career that was so hard for a woman to work in.

She glared at the closed blinds, thinking of the bright day outside. She needed to get to work; there were still a hundred things to do to get the exhibit ready, display cases to be set, last minute clean up of artifacts so they were presentable to the public. Instead of getting up, she let her head flop back onto the pillow. She'd get moving in an hour.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ray glared at the man in front of him. FBI or not, the son of a bitch was pissing him off.

"I want it done, or I'll have your ass in prison."

"I told you, I'll find him, but I can't if you keep dragging me in here like this."

"I own you, Donovan." Ray turned on his heel, slamming the office door behind him. He'd show that son of a bitch who owned who.

He thumbed his phone and put it to his ear. "What have you got, Lena?"

"On the archeologist, not much; her life is pretty much an open book, except that crazy medical file you gave me." Lena said in her usual efficient way. "On the guy who set the shit up, damn, I WISH I had a sugar daddy like that. I'd even fuck him…" He grinned as he slid into his car.

"One hundred million dollar trust fund, that's what's available, not the total amount by the way, set up when she was born, the entire family is subsidized and not by the federal government. Six mortgages on the family farm, and it is not small, around seven hundred acres or so. Mortgages have been in amounts upwards of a million dollars each, all paid off after six months. The last one taken out ten years ago, right before her father died for ten million dollars. That was all spent on the mother's cancer treatment. She got the best care, and none of it insured."

"So this guy is loaded."

"Yeah, but nothing on the accounts as far as activity in twenty years, set up to run automatically, even the mortgage accounts. Whoever this guy is, he knows his stuff. Trace hidden, hard to track accounts, everything from a numbered account offshore…"

"You said hard?" He said.

"But not impossible, not for me."

"What'da got, Lena?"

"Creed Industries, all the accounts, everything traces back to Creed Industries."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

He took a deep breath. This was not good. Victor Creed was the toughest son of a bitch on the planet, and that was on a good day, and he'd been rumored missing for close to three decades…rumored, because Creed Industries ran smoothly, not like a company missing its owner and CEO. He just hadn't been seen publicly in that time. His close friends claimed to talk to him, even have him at private affairs, but he hadn't been photographed in nearly thirty years. Some said it was ego, something happened that scarred him, or his vaunted stamina was finally wearing down and he didn't want the world to see him as old, others that he was really dead, and his heirs were quietly running things, using his reputation as a smoke screen.

She thought he was in LA…that was possible, but if he was, he wasn't going to be easy to find, hell the paparazzi would have found him by now if he was in LA.

"See what you can dig up."

"You got it, boss."

He glared at the phone a second before he dropped it back into its cradle. He still had that damned counseling session with Abby today, and still had to deal with Connor and the damned school shit.

The damned thing rang again. This time it was Lee.

"What."

"Tommy and that damned trannie again."

"What now?"

"Just get here."

He hung up. Some days it just wasn't worth the pay.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She glared at the cosmetic jar in front of her, the smooth alabaster flawed by a tiny crack she was trying to cover up. If her headache didn't pass soon she was going to throw the priceless artifact across the room. She still had time. She wasn't going to let anything stop this exhibit. It was her one contribution to the world, unless Donovan found him, her legacy, and she wasn't going to screw it up.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

"Hello?"

"Kate, it's Frank."

"How are you, are the kids okay?"

"Yeah, I was calling to say we saw it…" She heard the smile in her brother's voice. Somehow she was the one chosen to inherit her father's latent genetic anomalies. Franklin still had a chance to pass it on to his kids, but so far, neither of her nephews had shown any sign of it.

"Did I look okay? Zahi picked the dress. I hated it." She said.

"You looked fantastic, drop dead." He laughed.

"You know I really wish you wouldn't say that." She said chuckling.

"You're not going to die. He'll show up. It isn't like you didn't send a big neon signal up last night. You found Cleo fucking patra for God's sake."

"I know, but that will be just a blip."

"Yeah? Like Tut is a blip."

"And how many people even remember Carter?"

"Most of them, he's in every history book, just like you will be."

She shook her head. Frank was the positive one in the family.

"So how's the farm?"

"Drought's kicking our ass, but that's true all over the state." He replied, serious for once.

"Do you need money?"

"No, we've done well the last few years and I have crop insurance this year. Everyone's fine, Marj just wanted me to let you know you looked great last night."

"Tell her thanks." Kate smiled. She really did like her sister in law.

"I will. Now just get out there and find your man." Frank said.

"Up yours." Kate replied, hanging up.

XXXXXXXXXX

He dropped his keys on the table. The kids were around, somewhere. He thought he could hear Connor playing video games in the living room.

"I told you counseling would help." Abby was saying as she came into the room behind him.

"Sure."

She grabbed a glass out of the cabinet. "I really think it will be good for us."

"Yeah." He grabbed a glass himself, and the bottle of Scotch. He didn't even think, just poured his usual three fingers neat.

"Really, Ray? I thought we agreed ta try spending more time as a family?"

"One drink won't hurt."

"Whatevah."

"You cookin'?"

"Yeah." She cocked her head at him, and he knew she was pissed again.

"Maybe I'll need another drink." He muttered.

"I heard that." She shouted as he took the bottle and his glass to the living room to watch Connor.

"Can I have some?"

"No."

"Dad…"

"I said no." He poured him another one. He just couldn't seem to get his usual buzz.

"Fine." Connor flipped his headphones back over his ears and Ray glared at his son. He really should make Connor turn that shit down; it was going to blow his ears. Ray could hear the damned dialogue through the noise dampening earphones.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Did you…" He knew what she was asking as she took the last two steps in one leap.

"No." He patted the couch next to him and she sat down. "Later."

"Okay."

He put his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss on her head. His girl always smelled like her lemon shampoo, but for some reason tonight the scent was stronger, and not just lemon, just a little too much like a woman for his taste. She was just his little girl.

He stood up, and walked into the kitchen. Abby was putting one of the frozen lasagna's in the oven and he groaned and poured another drink.

"Really, Ray?"

Saved by the phone, and this time it was someone he wanted to talk to, Avi. He shrugged at Abby as he answered the phone.

"Boss, I tracked Mic, but you're not gonna like it."

"Where?"

"Baja, jail."

"Get his ass out and here." Ray growled, feeling it in the back of his throat. He didn't normally make sounds like that, but it felt familiar at the same time. Something was going on.

"On it."

He hung up. Avi didn't need courtesy, the former Mossad operative was always brief, which was one of the reasons Ray hired him. That and he could kill quietly and efficiently, and dispose of skeletons.

Abby started screaming as soon as he reached for his keys.

"You're not goin' anywhere, do you hear me." She shouted.

"Sorry, baby. Work." He pulled her tight against him, letting her feel just how much her tirade really turned him on. "I'll be back later."

"Ray…Ray….RAY!" he could hear the last through the thick oak front door as he climbed into his car. He loved the woman but her voice could get on his last nerve.

Still sober as a church mouse, even after three large glasses of scotch, he drove out of the neighborhood. Abby hated it, which was one of the reasons he wanted to stay, to keep her pissed off. She was a great anger fuck, and living here kept her furnace stoked.

XXXXXXXXXX

She slid her door key into the lock and slipped into her room. She hated hotels, missed her small condo outside of Cairo, or her tent. She chuckled. She missed sleeping on an army cot instead of a king sized temper mattress. She was losing her mind.

She dropped her briefcase that had her notes from the afternoon's restorations, and the sketches she'd made to document what was accomplished. Dinner had been takeout one of the USC grad students ordered for her, and as usual she hadn't even tasted it. She had to finish before…

She closed her eyes. It had been only one day. How much progress could he make in one day?

She took off her jacket and dropped it on the chair. Her blouse, finally able to unbutton, she left on, but loose and out of her skirt. She kicked off her simple black pumps and glared at the television. She had no interest in what the rich and famous of LA were doing so she just left it off. She hadn't worn stockings today, so she let her toes curl into the carpet, letting the control go just a bit to let her toe claws slip out and comb the carpet. She stopped short of cutting it, grinning.

Her unique abilities certainly served her well in her career. The healing, the senses, all combined to give her a more than competitive edge against others, even if her gender was a liability. Her finger and toe claws had saved her more than once, and once even saved others.

She turned to go to the bathroom to start a bath when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Donovan." She jumped. Damn the man, right when she was ready to relax.

She was buttoning her blouse as she opened the door slightly enough to let him in. He wasn't wearing his jacket, but his shirt was tucked neatly into his slacks. She could smell alcohol on his breath, but he didn't seem intoxicated.

"Have you found something?" She asked.

He just looked at her, and then glanced around the room. He walked to the windows, and inspected them. He glanced at the silent television, and just nodded. She stood in the entry to the room, dumbfounded. He walked past her, and locked the room door.

"Yes." He said, almost to softly to hear, then he grabbed her, pushing her back against the solid room door, fingers of one hand digging into her hair, the other at the small of her back, pulling her body along the length of his. His lips locked onto hers and she moaned.

There was no gentleness in what he did, efficiency, but he wasn't gentle. His mouth was demanding, and the animal inside her relished it. She didn't stop her hands from grabbing his shirt, pulling it out of his pants, as his hands moved, his body pinning her to the door, to remove her skirt. She gasped at the cool air against her legs as he lifted her, slamming her back against the door, his arousal rubbing against her in powerful thrusts.

She couldn't catch her breath, but he didn't seem to care, as she heard the sound of silk ripping, and her panties were thrown across the room. She not only heard, but felt his hand, his knuckles rubbing against her as he unfastened his buckle, the chink of the metal buckle loud in the room.

That caught her attention, and she began to struggle.

"Stop." She hissed as she managed to pull her mouth away, but he didn't listen, his teeth grazing her neck.

"I said STOP!" She roared, claws ripping into his back through his shirt, finally getting his attention.

"What the fuck…?" He growled.

"Let go of me." She growled back, he dropped her onto her feet and she pushed him back, dropping into a crouch, ready to strike.

Author's Note.

I know Cliffhanger…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The dawning of awareness

Kate was trembling. She almost never let the damned animal out, and not only had Donovan forced it out, she was reveling in the power.

His shirt hung off his shoulders, blood seeping from his back. He let out a feral like growl himself, then shook his head and stepped back again.

"I see the medical report was accurate." He said smoothly, only the heaving of his chest any indication of the exertion of the past minute or so.

Kate straightened out of her crouch, slowly, her hand reaching for the bag near her feet. It held the nearest cell phone. Her hand just reached the handle when he kicked it out of her reach.

"None o' that." He said softly. "This is just a misunderstandin'"

"Like hell."

He moved like a cat, stalking her around the room. Her claws were out and ready for blood. He winced as he moved to block her escape.

"Very simple, both of us walk away." He said hands outstretched, ready to catch her if she bolted. He seemed to forget, she was a cat, and the windows were just as accessible to her for egress. Right now, she wanted to see how he would extricate himself from the situation. She'd calmed down to curiously amused.

Her prey seemed to think he was stalking her. She made a quick lunge, managing to get a hand full of linen shirt and skin for her trouble.

"Doc, calm down…, this isn't necessary." One hand was slipping behind his back for his gun. Kate stood up straight, and sheathed her claws.

"It seems we're at an impasse, Mr. Donovan, I clearly don't want to get shot, and you clearly have changed your mind about why you came here." She leaned back against the window, on hip resting on the sill. "Why don't you just put the gun on the table, tell me why you came, and I'll forget what just happened."

"Fine…" He pulled the black shape of the gun from his back waistband and set it on the counter to the kitchenette of her room.

"We found a name, Victor Creed."

"That's it?"

"That's more than you had, but he's about as easy to find as some nameless rich guy."

"You have the resources, and money, find him."

"It's not that easy. This is a man who doesn't want ta be found."

"Find him. I know who he is; I've heard the name more than once."

"I'm just tellin' ya, it ain't gonna be easy."

"If I thought it would be easy, I wouldn't be paying what I'm paying now would I?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

He opened the trunk of the Mercedes, and dumped the bloody rags of his shirt into the spare tire rim. Damned bitch shredded his favorite shirt. He shook his head. He shouldn't have been here in the first place. He didn't even remember driving here, just getting out of the house to keep from listening to Abby bitch at him again.

He grabbed one of his spare shirts and slipped it on. He'd go to the apartment and sleep tonight. He definitely wasn't up to facing Abby or the kids right now. His phone in his pocket rang.

"Yeah."

"It's Avi, boss."

"What's up?"

"Just checking if you need me tonight?"

"Na, gonna go to the apartment and sleep."

"K." He could hear Avi's mother in the background.

"You okay, Boss?"

"Yeah."

He hung up the phone, wondering how true that last statement was. He slipped behind the wheel and drove to the parking garage for his apartment. He'd had more memory issues in the last few months, since the damned bar in Boston.

He tried to avoid getting into fights he couldn't control, and he always tried to avoid blows to the head.

He called Lena.

"Hey, any more on our guy?"

"Nothing, unless you count totally useless physical addresses."

"Useless?"

"Yeah, as in he's not using them and hasn't for about twenty years, including a really nice penthouse here in LA." Lena said. "He's not been seen by anybody out of the stratosphere either. I did get a statement from the Stark PR department that said that Mr. Creed and Mr. Stark enjoy an occasional sparring match together, but they did not have any current photo's to release."

"Shit. We need a photo."

"Yeah, I've got Avi pulling in favors trying to get something. I've got a couple but they're so grainy and old I can't enhance them any, and frankly the guy could be anybody in them."

"Aaiight, keep me posted. And sit on the client tomorrow, I wanna know every place she goes, everyone she sees."

"You got it, Boss."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kate scrubbed the floor out of the tile at the entry to the hotel room. She certainly didn't want housekeeping to clean up pools of blood.

What had stopped her? Why hadn't she taken the chance? It wasn't like she had to be a virgin when they found this Victor Creed, hell all she had to do was be breathing, the damned 'genetic anomalies' would take care of the rest.

So he got her motor running, did she have to cut him up like that? She'd been so excited with the smell of fresh blood in the air. Maybe that was it; she was more of a freak than she thought. She looked at her claws and shrugged, so she liked to use them, so what.

That was another reason to wait for the male; he wouldn't break if she bled him too much. Humans were a different story, and they certainly didn't expect her to have a darker side, not the way she dressed.

Kate leaned back on her heels, her eyes unfocussed as she remembered the last time she had blood on her hands.

XXXXXXXXX

_Kate looked out at the room of smiling faces: all beautiful young girls, of high school age, looking back at her in interest and curiosity. Zahi requested she talk to them. It was one thing to hear about Egyptology from him, but from a woman working in the field, he hoped to foster a feeling of pride in them. He didn't mind having women in the dig teams, as long as they were properly dressed and covered and accompanied by a father, brother or husband._

_She took a deep breath to begin her talk, when she heard the sound of large vehicles screeching to a stop outside. Six men, masks covering their faces stormed into the largest classroom where she was standing, gunfire burst into the ceiling and all of them hit the floor. _

_She heard their commands in Farsi, and kept her head down. They grabbed the four nearest girls and dragged them out of the room. Two of the men remained, guns trained on the other fifty or so girls and teachers in the room. Kate could hear the screams of the girls who'd been taken, along with the other sounds, the ones that told her exactly what was happening to them._

_She glanced at Ailea, Zahi's youngest wife, who had accompanied her on this excursion. She could see the tears in her friend's eyes. The screaming stopped, along with the grunts and other sounds, and the door to the room opened. The four men came back in, throwing the school girls on the floor. None of them moved, and Kate could smell blood. Two of the first men took their places by the door while three more girls were grabbed and dragged from the room. The fourth man grabbed Ailea's arm, and Kate lost control._

_The next thing she remembered was standing in the village square, people all around her, thanking her and cowering at her feet. She glanced around and saw a pile of bodies, men in masks with automatic rifles._

"_Kate, we need to return to Cairo." Ailea said softly. "Zahi wants us to return."_

_Kate just nodded and followed Ailea and her brother, who'd been tied up with the men of the village, to the rover._

_Cairo hadn't faired much better and Zahi was sporting a large bump on his head when he greeted them at the museum entrance. _

"_It appears we are in the middle of a revolution." He stated as Ailea ran into his arms._

_Kate heard the gunshot, and grabbed Zahi and Ailea forcing them to the ground. She felt the burn of the bullet as it passed through her chest and lung, stopping at her sternum, barley missing her heart. It worked its way slowly out of her skin, and as she looked at it fall into her hand, Zahi cupped his hand over hers._

"_You saved my life." He whispered._

"_No shit, Sherlock." She replied, and promptly passed out._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

She dumped the last towel into the bathtub and poured bleach into the water. That should be the last of the blood. She looked at her hands, the long claws retracted and hidden under her manicure again.

She'd never reacted like this, to anyone. What was it about this Donovan that had her acting like a vixen in heat? 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Prime numbers just don't mix

He sat in his office, his phone ringing off the hook, but he just couldn't remember why it was important.

A cute brunette stuck her nose into his office, but he couldn't remember her name.

"Boss, the insurance company called, they're sending a car over. I'm afraid yours is totaled. You're lucky to be alive."

"Thanks." He muttered. Who the fuck was she?

"Ezra keeps calling, he's worried about you?"

"Thanks."

"Boss…" She shook her head and left. Lena, her name was Lena.

A few minutes later she came back with a big guy he somewhat recognized, at least how he moved. He was definitely Mossad.

"Okay, enough being the tough guy, Boss." The big guy said. "Off to the hospital."

"I don't need a damned hospital." He growled the low hum familiar in his bones. Mossad or not the big guy was going down.

"Sure you don't boss, but they need you so let's go." He struggled, but somehow the Lena was much stronger than she looked, and Avi, he remembered the big guy's name, had him in a lock.

He tried to jump out of the van twice, they'd ended up using zip ties to keep him in.

They restrained him in the emergency room. He didn't need a damned head x-ray.

When the red head showed up, he gave up the fight. His body knew that woman and she was his, and somehow he ended up with some kind of medication in the damned IV bag they had him on, and passed out.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kate looked up, a young woman stood at the door of the restoration room.

"Are you Dr. Wilson?"

"Yes."

"Hi, I'm Lena. I work with Mr. Donovan." Kate could feel her temper starting to rise and took a deep breath. "I know we're on a time crunch. I've found what I could, but Mr. Donovan had a car accident this afternoon and is in surgery."

That cooled Kate's temper quickly.

"Will he be alright?"

"If they can get the metal fragment out of his head." Lena said as she leaned on the door.

"Metal fragment?"

"Yeah, evidently, he's got a knife tip or something inside his brain. No clue how long it has been there, but the neurologist seems to think it has been there for years."

"And this has something to do with me how?" Kate asked.

"Well, one of our associates managed to find a picture of your guy…from about twenty five years ago…neither one of us wanted to believe it, but it's the Boss."

"Bruce Springsteen?" Kate asked.

Lena busted out laughing.

"OH SHIT, no!" Kate sat back watching her. Lena couldn't seem to stop laughing, she'd try to get her breath, then somehow start all over again. Kate sighed.

"No, my boss, Ray." Lena finally gasped.

"Mr. Donovan?" Kate asked, sitting up, nearly knocking the delicate piece of jewelry she was working on to the floor.

"Yeah…somehow, either they're twins or Ray is Creed."

"Does he know?" Kate whispered.

"No, we actually got the information right after he went in for surgery. Avi and I didn't know what to do with it, except we knew we couldn't tell Abby."

"Who's Abby?"

"His wife."

Kate blanched. It was one thing to conceptualize that he was married, another thing to know her name.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The room was dark when he opened his eyes. Something was covering them, but he could feel the lights were not humming like most fluorescents did, and someone was in the room with him, three some ones to be exact. Abby's scent he picked up immediately, and her heart was racing, she was sweating fear and concern. Avi was the second scent, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd smelled fear from the big Israeli. The third scent he didn't recognize, but by the calmness and disinfectant that filled the room, he guessed it was a doctor.

"He should be waking up any time now, Mrs. Donovan." The calm one said.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"I've never seen anyone recover that fast. Once we had this out, I couldn't close the incision, it healed that quickly."

"Any idea what caused that?" Avi asked.

"Yeah, my fucking mutation." Victor growled. He heard them all three jump. His mind was jumbled, but there were three things very clear. He wasn't Ray fucking Donovan, he was Victor fucking Creed. His mate was near, her scent filled his sinuses, he'd had her in his hands not long ago, and intended on finishing what he started. Finally, he was going to fucking KILL his brother.

"Ray?"

"Boss?"

"Mr. Donovan?"

"All three of ya, shut the fuck up, and get this shit off my head." He growled.

"Mr. Donovan, we're not sure if the optic nerves were damaged by the surgery."

Victor ripped at the bandages. His fucking eyes were fucking fine.

"Ray, stop, you'll hurt yourself." Abby's hands calmed him, like they always could. That was a wrinkle he was going to have to figure out. Even lying here, Kate's scent in his head, his body was responding to his wife.

HIS FUCKING WIFE! How the fuck had that happened?

How the fuck had he ended up Ray Donovan?

His brain better hurry up with the fucking healing.

XXXXXXXXXXX

She stood outside the door; he was lying in the bed, the room empty. She could smell and feel his fear, confusion, and anger at his helplessness. She just hoped the hospital smells masked her scent.

She only had one choice to make, and she wanted to see his face one more time before she got on the plane. She was leaving. There was no way in hell she was going to break up his marriage; no way she was going to take him away from his children. She'd die first, literally.

She looked through the door window, his face was a mask of frustration, and she wished she had the courage to walk in, and see his eyes one more time.

She turned, and walked down the hallway. She pushed the button for the elevator, and stood waiting. Every instinct in her body was screaming to go back down the hall, confront him, demand her rights as his mate, demand he save her.

She couldn't do it. Just as she started to turn, the doors opened and she stood face to face with the reason she was going to die.

She was stunning, her hair copper in the lights of the elevator. She was as thin as every other woman around here seemed to strive to be, but she didn't look like she tried very hard. Her eyes met Kate's, and Kate's breath stopped. Kate knew in that moment, that she was losing more than her mate, she was losing her best friend too.

She passed Abby Donovan to enter the elevator, and felt the loss as they're eyes met through the doors as they closed. Kate's heart broke as the floor seemed to fall from her feet as the elevator dropped to the garage level. She made it to the rental car before she let the tears fall.

She belonged up there, she belonged next to his bed, next to her, in their lives, but it was impossible. She started the car and pulled out of the parking space. She didn't look in the rear view mirror once until she was out. If she had, she'd have seen him standing at the elevator, hand outstretched to stop her from going.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Damn it. She was gone.

He could feel it, deep in his gut. This wasn't just some girl he fucked, this was his mate, the rest of his life, his sanity, and she was gone. He felt Abby's hand on his arm, and turned to look at her.

"Ray, what is it?"

"I'm not Ray." He said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 TSA

She sat in the little room for what seemed like days. Her flight departed two hours ago, and they refused to allow her to talk to a ticket agent to reschedule. Her diplomatic passport hadn't even given them pause.

The whole body scan, then pat down, then isolation in this room had been completely humiliating, or would have been if she hadn't already been completely humiliated. She'd thrown herself at him, and he'd certainly taken her up on it, knowing he was married. For the first time, in a very long time she felt her age, twenty-five, scared and humiliated.

Tears didn't seem to stop falling. She'd just get one round stopped, think she was ready to stand up and fight again, and she'd feel another track down her cheek. She'd never been the sobbing kind, but right now wished she could break down into a good hysterical sobbing roll on the floor crying jag.

The cathartic release would be enough to clear her head and let her think through her situation. All she could see was his face through the small window, and hers as she stepped off the elevator. Husband and wife.

When she'd started this, she hadn't planned for anything permanent: a convenient 'maintenance fuck' to keep her body functioning so she could work, but her dreams since she'd arrived in Los Angeles had proven both her naiveté and her stupidity. She lay her head down on the table on her crossed arms.

XXXXXXXXXX

"_There you are." He said as he opened the door._

_Kate looked up at him as he knelt in front of the chair she was sitting in. He gently reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek._

"_You shouldn't be here."_

"_I had to get away." Kate whimpered. She didn't want him to know how much she knew._

"_Abby?"_

"_Yes."_

_He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him and pulled her tight against his chest. Her head fit neatly under his chin, and his arms were loose around her body as she leaned against him. She could feel strength flowing from him, and let out a sigh._

"_We'll work it out." He whispered against her hair. She looked up to see his eyes, so green and earnest fade slowly to pure black and cold. His arms were suddenly steel bands and his hands clenched steel jaws as they pushed her hard against a wall._

_His mouth was demanding and she didn't stop herself from responding, He just pulled her skirt up around her waist, unfastened his pants and she…_

XXXXXXXX

Damn it. She never could seem to stay asleep to find out what was next. She shook her head, and felt the bun she had her hair contained in fall loose. She grabbed it quickly and pulled the pins, combed it out with her fingers and then twisted. She hated putting her hair up, to do it right took more than one pair of hands. She reached the end of her reach and started twisting it back on itself to create the bun. Another pair of hands were suddenly over hers, twisting the last part before neatly tucking the ends under the twisted bun and pinning them into place.

Kate sat there, waiting.

"Why did ya run?" It was a woman's voice, not his.

Kate turned and confronted the very last person on earth she ever wanted to see again.

"I have no right." Kate said softly, bowing her head.

"No right to live?" Abby said softly.

"No right to take from others to live." Kate said, eyes down, afraid of the hate this woman had to have for her.

"That's bullshit, ya know." Abby said softly pulling up a chair.

"No, it is life, something I should have expected." Kate said.

"You didn't think there'd be problems?"

"I knew there would be problems, but I draw the line at hurting families." Kate's head shot up, and then she pause, the sympathy and empathy in his wife's eyes confusing her.

"How do you know?" Kate asked

"It was quite the scene at the hospital. Ray screaming at someone to stop you, Avi on the phone to get you blocked from the flight, Ray and Avi screaming at each other…I just got in the car and drove here. I figured you'd be scared and confused."

Kate just shook her head. "You should be with him."

"Ray Donovan can take care of himself, brain surgery be damned."

"Why are you here, you should hate me."

"I have to admit, my first instinct was to try ta kill ya." Kate chuckled at the wry smile on Abby's lips.

"But the more I listened to what they were yellin' I realized that you weren't doin this ta hurt anyone, and I tried ta put myself inta your shoes, which are totally hideous by the way, who does your shopping Maria Von Trapp?" Kate just stared and shook her head as Abby continued. "I realized you're only tryin ta live, ta survive, and if I'd had ta cross every line of decency ta get ta Ray, I would…and did."

Kate looked at her.

"Ray and I knew each other in high school, but we broke up. My parents didn't want me dating a Donovan. I didn't see him again until ninety four, and he seemed different, more focused, and he was dating someone else. A girl I really hated, she was nothin' but trash. So I put the moves on, and I didn't cry a bit when the bitch was shot and killed, hell I kissed Ray at her funeral."

Kate nodded. Abby was warning her, she needed to get out of here, find a way to get on that plane and disappear until her cold body was found.

"I didn't tell ya that ta warn ya." Abby took one of her hands in both of hers, and started rubbing. "Damn, darlin' you're cold as ice, we've gotta get you out of here."

Kate trembled. The room was cold, and she was getting colder, her heart was racing, and she couldn't seem to focus. Abby stood up and went to the door. A man came in and lifted Kate in his arms while Abby grabbed her suitcase. Kate passed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

He stood at the window, fists clenched at his side. A part of him trusted Abby implicitly, another part of him wanted to protect Kate from his wife's acid tongue. Abby shocked him at the hospital, cutting across the argument he was having with Avi about how best to catch Kate and stop her from leaving the city.

"_RAY!" _

"_WHAT, WOMAN!" He roared back._

"_Someone's going ta have ta talk ta her."_

"_Abby, stay the fuck out of this, it doesn't concern you." He bit back._

"_FUCK YOU RAY, VICTOR or whoeva you are." Abby screeched back. "This girl is scared, alone and facing death from the sounds of it, and you two are gonna sit there and talk it ta death and she'll BE dead by the time you two idiots figure out what ya'r gonna do."_

_She was right._

"_Avi, come with me, she might give us some resistance at first." Abby said, getting into her car. "YOU…" she said pointing at Victor, "Go someplace we can find ya, so we can work this out."_

XXXXXXXXXX

So here he was, standing at the window of his apartment, nursing a scotch, and wondering how the hell he'd been conned into sending his wife to rescue the woman he desperately wanted to fuck.

"Boss, do you want to work through this, or just drink." Lena said from the living room behind him."

"Shut the fuck up and give me what you got, Lena." He growled.

She laughed, then cleared her throat and started talking.

"From what we've been able to piece together, Victor Creed was in some kind of major fight in 1983, with another mutant, who now days goes by the name Logan. After that fight, Victor seemed to go underground, well actually above ground. He worked running Creed Industries, then disappeared after his plane had to make an emergency landing in Boston in late 1993 due to bad turbulence. That is where Creed's trail goes cold."

"In late 1993, Ray Donovan gets into a fight in a bar, takes several bad blows to the head, and is arrested by Boston PD. He's held in the tank for three days not knowing who he is, when Mickey Donovan comes in to identify him. The man identified as Ray Donovan goes home with Mickey Donovan. That is the man I'm looking at now."

Lena paused. "The hospital did DNA tests on you, and proved, definitively that you are Victor Creed. I've got PI's in Boston searching for the real Ray Donovan."

He took another sip of his scotch. "Do you think he's still alive?" He was thinking about Abby and how she'd handle this.

"Doubtful. Someone would have come forward with a claim if he was, it's been twenty one years, and Ray is just a normal guy, not like you, Boss."

"So where does this place Abby and the kids?" He asked.

"Ezra's looking into the legalities of it. There are precedent cases where someone woke up from a long term amnesia with two whole families. Usually the oldest legal marriage takes precedent, but can be annulled if you want."

"No."

"Boss, I'm telling you what Ezra said, He also said that you could re-marry Abby at any time under Creed, since that is your legal identity, but that just about every thing you've done under Ray Donovan is also legal, since you didn't enter into that identity with any intent to defraud or hide your identity, so you wouldn't even have to do that if you didn't want to. It would take some paperwork at the courthouse, but the marriage can be declared legal by a judge."

"And what about Kate?"

"That's a sticky wicket." Lena said.

"How?"

"The biological imperative involved, while physically binding as any marital law can be, even more so, since it cannot be biologically broken, it holds no legal standing at all; she's your mate, but not your wife, not unless you divorce Abby."

"I can't do that."

"Then you have a very sticky problem, Boss."

He just took another drink from his glass. This problem wasn't going away any time soon. And his brain wasn't recovering fast enough to really decide who he really was – or wanted to be. 


End file.
